Page 48 - BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands 2014

Section 03 | Thought Leadership

THE DATA-

Consumer attitudes can be shifted with a single Finding meaning in mass data
tweet, and entire categories are being disrupted by

the technologies we carry in our pockets. As the Moving forward, it will be increasingly dificult to
media industry has gone through massive upheavals obtain comprehensive single-source data on a single
in the past decade, our attitudes as consumers are individual. We may not know what Jane Doe saw on
DRIVEN more ickle than ever. Social media, in particular, can TV, how often she tweeted, or what she bought at
trigger lash points for brands, such as the horse which store. But by taking seemingly disparate

meat scandal from 2013. Even for brands not directly datasets that relect niche patterns of consumer
involved in such controversies, they may also behavior, and identifying their common patterns,
experience a slower and broader escalation of we can generalize with more accuracy and meaning.
shifting consumer preference – consider the growing Online behavioral data can give us a sense of search
consumer and corporate interest in sustainable patterns and overall levels of product demand; T
PURSUI
meat, including Chipotle and McDonald’s.
social data can tell us what stands out about a brand

over time; sales data can give us concrete outcomes;
To succeed commercially, brands must be dynamic and survey data can help us calibrate each of these
and innovative. Some innovation is a routine part of habits, attitudes, and actions in relation to one
business: Moore’s law driving down the cost of another. Some of the data may not even be direct
technology and raising the bar for capacity, or consumer data, but broader market inluences.

OF THE evolving an existing product to deliver on changing Advancements in analytics allow us to be able
consumer preferences (e.g. gluten-free cereal). But to infer and simulate meaningful trends using
other innovations seemingly come out of left ield, a different set of data points than we’ve worked
whether it’s from a new entrant to the market (such from previously. Enabling this diversity in the
as Airbnb’s disruption of hospitality) or a radical research ecosystem makes our instruments more

re-imagining of an industry (like Amazon’s takeover sensitive to both consumer and market shifts
INCONSTANT of digital media content). Ultimately, both types of originating from unexpected corners.
innovation must be supported by consumer demand
(however latent), whether that is an incremental As disruption creates competition from unexpected
desire for a slightly better product or a rapid sources, brands will need to do more than achieve
adoption of a transformative technology.
parity with their category; it may no longer be

enough to simply meet consumer expectations.
Savvy brands will need to tap into research to better Especially for companies whose branding is the
CONSUMER
understand how that consumer demand is shifting primary source of differentiation, it becomes more
as well as to anticipate the potential for their own important than ever to have a deep understanding
brand and category to proactively connect with and of the consumer in order to connect the brand to the

shape the consumer mindset. Marketers are anxious meaningful desires and values motivating our
to anticipate the consumer-driven shifts, and they choices. Ultimately, the forward movement of
speciically crave access to the robust cloud of data industry disruption comes from a business – and not
we each generate.
consumers – but integrating stronger consumer data
into market projections can help companies better

In the age of “Data of Now,” there is a persistent identify unexploited opportunities, and position their
Ali Rana
sense that the next trend will leap off the page (or brands for growth among the consumers who
out of the database) just in time for a brand to pivot support them.
and capture a newly deined market. So as
SVP and Head Scientist, purveyors of consumer trends and insights, it is our
Emerging Media Lab
own industry that is most ripe for disruption – if
Millward Brown Digital
Ali.Rana@millwardbrown.com
brands are looking to make data-driven decisions,
they will be leaning more heavily on market
research. Yet as researchers, we are caught in a
paradox: consumer proiles, augmented by social,
behavioral, and transaction data, can be richer than

ever. But the same media ecosystem that helps
foster this depth is also a quagmire.

There are not only technological barriers to building
these proiles (such as tracking a single consumer’s

behavior across a computer, a tablet, and a mobile
phone), but also serious ethical concerns around
consumer privacy and consent. We anticipate that
innovation could help ease some technological
In the U.S., Millward Brown Digital delivers comprehensive digital impediments, but that regulatory action as well

solutions to help advertisers, agencies and publishers increase as consumer concerns will constrain the full use
marketing effectiveness and drive brand growth. The unit of this data.
combines Compete’s consumer, channel and market intelligence
solutions – supported by the industry’s largest behavioral panel
– with Dynamic Logic’s advertising and campaign effectiveness
offering. Insights from the division help marketers increase media

eficiency and optimize campaign effectiveness, expand sales and
market share for their brands across all channels, and enhance total
brand performance. To ind out more visit
www.millwardbrown.com/digital.

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